All About the Cloud: 6 Stocks in 60 Seconds

by Alyssa Oursler | June 5, 2013 10:10 am

GeneralMotors (GM[1])will return to the S&P 500 at the end of the trading day Thursday, four years after bankruptcy and a government bailout led to its expulsion. InvestorPlace feature writer Dan Burrows thinks it’s a “symbolic victory” and nothing more[2], though.

It was announced Tuesday that Salesforce.com (CRM[3]) will spend more than $2.3 billion to buy marketing software company ExactTarget (ET[4]). The deal valued ET shares at $33.75, or more than 50% of their Monday closing price.

In response to the Salesforce purchase, IPO expert Tom Taulli wrote that he thought the move was just the start of M&A activity in the cloud sector[5]. Already, he looks to be right. IBM (IBM[6]) — the world’s largest seller of computer services — just agreed to buy SoftLayer Technologies — a cloud-computing storage provider — for $2 billion.

Zynga (ZNGA[7]) ended 12% in the red Monday after the gaming company announced plans to slash more than 500 jobs[8] — around 20% of its work force — and close three offices. The move will be the largest layoff in the company’s history and should save the mobile gaming company $70 million to $80 million.

Finally, Apple (AAPL[9]) reportedly has worked out a deal with Warner Music Group, sparking speculation that its iRadio streaming music service will be launched soon[10], which many think could be bad news for rival Pandora (P[11]).

Check out past “6 Stocks in 60 Seconds” clips here.[12]

For more videos — including exclusive access to full-length interviews and early access to weekly updates — like us on Facebook[13] or follow us on Twitter[14]. As of this writing, Alyssa Oursler did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Follow her on Twitter: @alyssaoursler[15].